Recently, China National Intellectual Property Administration (CNIPA) issued the “2017 Report on the Major Statistical Data of AI field in China”. As reported, in 2017, the number of published invention patent applications and the number of granted invention patents in AI field reached 46,284 and 17,477 respectively. AI related invention patents grew steadily in China in 2017, and companies were found to be more advantageous in vertical application of the technology. 　　

The data also shows that in 2017, among the 46,284 published AI invention patent applications, 41,707 were from domestic and 4,577 from foreign applicants; and among the 17,477 granted AI invention patents, 16,595 were from the domestic and 882 from foreign applicants. Guangdong province, with 4,777 granted AI invention patents, ranked first among the domestic regions. And US ranked first among the foreign countries with 317 granted AI invention patents. (Source: www.cnipa.gov.cn )